TEHRAN- The Permanent Representative of Iran to the UN doubts Ukraine's accusations that the Islamic Republic disregarded UN Security Council Resolution 2231 by supplying Russia with drones, as Kiev claims.

The comments were made by Amir Saeid Iravani on Thursday in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council (UNSC).

The full text of his remarks is as follows:

“Since the closed meeting of the Security Council just finished, I would like to make some comments regarding claims made against my country over the situation in Ukraine.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has taken a clear and consistent position on the situation in Ukraine, which has been pronounced since the start of the conflict.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has always emphasized that all UN Members must fully respect the purposes and principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter as well as applicable international law, including sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity.

As a country that has experienced an 8-year imposed war and aggression, Iran has consistently advocated for peace and an immediate end to the conflict in Ukraine and has urged the parties in the conflict to exercise restraint, avoid escalating tensions, and engage in a meaningful process for settling their disputes through peaceful means while also addressing the root causes of the situation.

Iran supports the ongoing efforts to find a peaceful solution to this conflict, and in this regard, our Foreign Minister contacted his counterparts from both sides on several occasions.

Having said that, Iran categorically rejects unfounded and unsubstantiated claims that Iran has transferred UAVs for use in the conflict in Ukraine.

It is really disappointing that, to pursue their political agenda, these States are trying to launch a disinformation campaign against Iran and make misleading interpretations of Security Council Resolution 2231 in order to wrongly establish a link between their baseless allegations against Iran with this Resolution.

Iran emphasizes that the issues surrounding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine are completely irrelevant to Resolution 2231 both in substance and format, and any activity in this regard falls outside the scope of the Resolution and the Secretariat's mandate.

Moreover, Iran is of the firm belief that none of its arms exports, including UAVs, to any country falls within the provision of Paragraph 4 of Annex B to resolution 2231.

The Islamic Republic of Iran will continue its constructive engagement to help the peaceful resolution of conflict in Ukraine.”